3. Gary K and Rick S and not good talent evaluators. Look and the talents we let go for nothing.

OK .. there are a lot of things you can knock about the Texans right now but Rick Smith is not one of them. This team has had pretty strong drafts and FA signings since Smith got here. JJ Watt and Arian Foster anyone?

In the case of letting good talent go that is on the coaching staff for not getting their potential out of them.

OK .. there are a lot of things you can knock about the Texans right now but Rick Smith is not one of them. This team has had pretty strong drafts and FA signings since Smith got here. JJ Watt and Arian Foster anyone?.

Wade is responsible for Watt. And Foster was just dumb luck. Smith would have to do a whole lot to make up for extending Schaub contracts.

Wade is responsible for Watt. And Foster was just dumb luck. Smith would have to do a whole lot to make up for extending Schaub contracts.

Watt wouldn't have been on Wade's radar if Smith & his scouts didn't do their job.

Same can be said for Arian, except... he chose to come to Houston because our running backs were so bad. He could have gone to the Saints if he wanted to. I think the Jets were also on his list. There were reportedly four teams offering him a contract. He could have gone to any of them.

Now I think the report was that we offered him 2 years, where they offered him one, but Arian said, somewhere, that he thought he had a better shot at playing here because of the "strength" of our depth chart.

Wade is responsible for Watt. And Foster was just dumb luck. Smith would have to do a whole lot to make up for extending Schaub contracts.

How about trading for Chris Myers for just a 6th rounder? Trading down and drafting Duane Brown when everyone thought that was a big reach? Signing Wade Smith for close to nothing? Not to mention drafting Brian Cushing, Kareem Jackson, Glover Quin, and Connor Barwin. And signing Antonio Smith & Shaun Cody?

How about opting for Danieal Manning & Jonathan Joseph instead of just Nnamdi?

There's a bunch of other nice players Rick acquired, but I thought these were the obvious ones.

How about opting for Danieal Manning & Jonathan Joseph instead of just Nnamdi?

In my opinion, that was a great step in the maturation of this organization. In the past, they would wait on the most sought after FA of a position, like a donkey chasing a carrot, till the bitter end. By the time they figured out that said FA has no intention of signing with us & are simply using us as a bargaining chip, the #2 & 3 Fa would be gone & we'd have to start the season with Kareem Jackson, Glover Quin, Bernard Pollard, & Eugene Wilson as our starting backfield.

This time, they spit the bit & turned positions of weakness into positions of strength with the swipe of a pen.

I also think it was important that we signed them, especially Joseph, without waiting on Nnamdi to "set the market". I think that said a lot to Jjo & he paid us back in spades.

I seriously had my doubts about Rick Smith prior to that offseason, & there are still a few left on my, "I really don't trust him" list. But there's no doubt in my mind he's sitting at the big boy table now.